THE GUT-BRAIN CON­NEC­TION

Sero­tonin is a hor­mone (neu­ro­trans­mit­ter) that leads us to feel happy, calm and con­tent. It is im­por­tant to re­mem­ber that about 80 per cent of the sero­tonin in the body is made in the gut, so sup­port­ing good gut health can play a role in how we feel each day. When we think of our mood, we tend to think of it be­ing re­lated to our brain, yet many neu­ro­trans­mit­ters are ac­tu­ally made in the gut.

Fer­mented foods such as sauer­kraut are rich in acetic acid which can help pro­mote good stom­ach acid pro­duc­tion and hence great di­ges­tion, al­low­ing ben­e­fi­cial mi­crobes to re­side in the large in­tes­tine, thereby en­hanc­ing our mood. You can buy them or make your own.

Dark choco­late is a good source of tryp­to­phan, an amino acid that sup­ports the pro­duc­tion of sero­tonin. Choco­late con­sump­tion also drives the brain to pro­duce another chem­i­cal called anan­damide, which has been shown to tem­po­rar­ily block feel­ings of pain and de­pres­sion. Dopamine is also pro­duced when we eat choco­late, and this can have a mood lift­ing ef­fect on many